In this study, the biochemical and physiological features of the firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus were investigated to understand the impact of the honeybee Apis mellifera venom on them using physiological methods (mortality, total level of metabolism), biochemical methods (ELISA, mass spectrometry, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, spectrophotometry) and molecular methods (real-time PCR). Together, the obtained findings suggest that venom injection increased the level of adipokinetic hormone (AKH) in the CNS of P. apterus, indicating that this hormone plays a key role in activating defence responses. Furthermore, histamine levels in the gut increased significantly after envenomation and did not seem to be modulated by AKH. In contrast, histamine levels in the haemolymph increased after treatment with AKH and AKH + venom. In addition, we found that vitellogenin levels in haemolymph decreased in both males and females after venom application. Lipids, which are the main energy metabolites used by Pyrrhocoris, were significantly exhausted from the haemolymph after the administration of venom and the co-application with AKH reversed this effect. However, we did not find much influence on the effect of digestive enzymes after the injection of venom. Our research has highlighted the noticeable effect of bee venom on P. apterus' body and provided new insights into the role of AKH in controlling defensive responses. However, it is also likely that there will be alternative defence mechanisms.
In the temperate climates of central Europe and North America, two distinct honeybee (Apis mellifera) populations are found in colonies: short-living summer bees emerge in spring and survive until summer, whereas long-living winter bees emerge in late August and overwinter. Besides the difference in their life spans, each of these populations fulfils a different role in the colonies and individual bees have distinct physiological and immunological adaptations depending on their roles. For instance, winter worker bees have higher vitellogenin levels and larger reserves of nutrients in the fat body than summer bees. The differences between the immune systems of both populations are well described at the constitutive level; however, our knowledge of its inducibility is still very limited. In this study, we focus on the response of 10-day-old honeybee workers to immune challenges triggered in vivo by injecting heat-killed bacteria, with particular focus on honeybees that emerge and live under hive conditions. Responses to bacterial injections differed between summer and winter bees. Winter bees exhibited a more intense response, including higher expression of antimicrobial genes and antimicrobial activity, as well as a significant decrease in vitellogenin gene expression and its concentration in the hemolymph. The intense immune response observed in winter honeybees may contribute to our understanding of the relationships between colony fitness and infection with pathogens, as well as its association with successful overwintering.
- MeSH
- imunita * MeSH
- roční období MeSH
- včely MeSH
- vitelogeniny * MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Evropa MeSH
- Severní Amerika MeSH
Apidaecins represent an important group of antimicrobial peptides occurring in honey bee hemolymph, where they play an important role as key components of humoral immunity. The present study demonstrates the development of a highly sensitive assay for apidaecin 1 isoforms quantification in the hemolymph or body parts from honey bee individuals. The analytical protocol comprises apidaecins 1 purification and enrichment steps by weak cation-exchange chromatography (WCX) in laboratory-made WCX-Tip microcolumns combined with a desalting step on a reversed-phase sorbent (C8) carried in StageTips. Apidaecin-enriched fraction was analyzed by a reversed-phase based nanoliquid chromatography (C4) separation coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry. The method performance was validated in its specificity, linearity (0-5pmol), recovery (∼45%), precision (<10% at 0.1pmol), limit of detection (∼50fmol), limit of quantification (0.1pmol) and sample stability. The method was successfully applied to analyze the content of apidaecin 1 isoforms in the following samples: hemolymph - 13.0ng/μL (95% confidence interval of 7.5-18.6ng/μL), thoraxes - 36.2ng/unit (95% CI of 18.9-53.6ng/unit) and heads - 12.9ng/unit (95% CI of 9.1-16.7ng/unit). Freshly emerged bees had apidaecin 1 isoforms levels below the limit of detection. Thus it was possible to use them as a competitive matrix for calibration standards to prevent losses of highly basic apidaecins. This new protocol for apidaecin 1 isoforms quantification represents a promising tool to study the role of apidaecins in honey bee immunity and can be considered as a proof-of-concept for the development of sensitive quantification methods for basic antimicrobial peptides in various organisms.
- MeSH
- hmotnostní spektrometrie metody MeSH
- kalibrace MeSH
- kationické antimikrobiální peptidy izolace a purifikace MeSH
- kationty chemie MeSH
- limita detekce MeSH
- protein - isoformy izolace a purifikace MeSH
- včely chemie MeSH
- vysokoúčinná kapalinová chromatografie metody MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
